Apparatus for cleaning castings



Dec. 31, 1940. WEBSTER, JR 2,227,047

2 APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CASTINGS Filed July 22, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Walthwesierin I .5 M

Dec. 31, 1940. "r. K. WEBSTER, JR

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CASTINGS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 22, 1957 Dec. 31, 1940. 1-. K. WEBSTER, JR

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CASTINGS Filed July 22, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 a j i 9 Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED STA PATENT .Y-IOFFIICE 2,227,647 a I APPARATUS FOR C LEANI N G cAs'rINGs Towner K. Webster, Jr., Winnetka, 'Ill., assignor to The Hydro-Blast Corporation, Chicago, Ill., acorporationot'lllinoisw an; i

Application July 22, 1937; Serial No. 154,988

I I I I I 1 Claim. This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning castihgaand more particularly toa structure lutilizing a sand blast device for automatically cleaning castings. r

Usually when small castings are removed from I the sand molds, theyarelplaced inaltumbling barrel with a charge of small pieces or irregularly shapedmetal known as tumbling stars, and I the whole tumbled until the surfacesoi thecastings are cleanedoiadheringsand and scale by the abrading action developed. -Whensufflciently cleaned, the tumbling barrel is opened, the load discharged and the castings removed from the dirtand tumbling stars.

During the above operation much metallic and silica dust is produced, whichnecessitates' the use ,@of suction ventilation to guard the operators against silicosis. l g I In the present inventionit is propcsedto clean 0 small castingscontinuously without stopping the machine, or in batches, andf to accomplish this cleaning operation much more rapidly and without the production of the sual dangerou'sdustl It; is an object of my invention to provide means l 25 {for cleaning castings in a continuousoperatiomor I in batches as desired.

, Aiurther object is to eliminatethefiormation l I of dust fromacasting cleaning'operation.

, v i Another object is to provide an automatic casting cleaning machine that uses high pressure liquid jets containing i'ntrained abrasive particles toabrade the surfaces of thecastings as they pass ,therethrough. i U I i A further object is to use the abrading stream 85 both for cleaning thecastings and Ior propelling them through the machine.

A further object is to provide means j for regulating thespeed or travel or the castings through the machine.

40 A further object is to provide a machine for l cleaning castings in which thecastings are. both cleaned and moved through a machine by a hydraulic abradingstream. I M

A further object is to provide means for clean- 45l ing castings: in batches in a substantially closed c I machine by means of abrasive carrying liquid Jet's.

These andjother objects will become apparent from the following description, referencebeing [had to the, accompanying drawings in which:

machine accordlngto this invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of thedischarge-end of the l j machine while Fig. 3 is an elevation or the inlet or 3 charging end of the machine; I 55 Fig. 4 is a' sectional view taken in the direction I therein; I I v a f Fig; 5 is a sectional detail viewof the cylinder 4 isa'side' elevation partly in section of a (01:51-13) i a f H II of the arrows along the line 4-4 of Fig.1, showing a rotatable'drum with a blasting mounted tilting mechanism lFig. 6, is a sectional view of theidrive mechanismtaken in the direction of the arrows along the line 6-6 of Fig.1;

Fig. 7 is a view inelevation of one of, the blastc ,ing guns with the cap of the ball and socket 10 clamping bracket removed; r

. Fig. 8 isa sectional view partly in elevation of the gun clamping'meanstaken inthe dirctionof the arrows along the line 8-8 of Fig. 'l.

,zirnthe drawings in which like numerals desig- '1 hate like partsthroughout the same, the machine .ingeneral consists of a rotating cylinder into which are projected several abrasive carryinghigh pressure liquid streams The word cylinder is above and hereaiter used, refers to "a rotating tumbler which may be round,,square, triangular,

or of any other shapeorfcross section, and thus fit heword cylinder in the claims "is intended to cover any such structure. The castings are fed into oneend of the cylinder and tumbled by its.

rotation, while the abrading streams play upon and clean the surface of dirt and scale. The impact or these abrading streams alsoj' moves the castings forward andoutof the opposite end of i the cylinder. To regulate the speed of travel or the castings through, the machine the cylinder is tiltableon a horizontal transverse axis, so that when the charging end is tilted downwardly the rateof travel of thecastings will become slower, whileif tilted in the opposite direction, the castings will move more rapidlyjtoward the discharge end. 'I'he casting cleaning machine i0 is installed "over ashallow rectangular concrete pit, l2 which serves to catch the water; sandiand mud flowing 'm therefrom. The pit l2 slopes in all directions toward the, center where it opens at l4 into a sand classifier fliand storage tank lfl'below.

H Near the center of theside edges of the pit l2 arejsecured bearing blocks 20 and 22, each of I which has a cylindrical upper bearing surface 24 and 26, withfthese surfaces and 26 in axial alignment I The machine), which rests upon the blocks 20 and 22; consists of a horizontal rectangular frame -28'built upof four channel iron sections "suitably secured together at their ends by welding or riveting. Brackets 30 and 32 are secured tothe outside faces of. each or the side members or the I frame 28 near their centers and have hemicylin-u drical grooves 34 fitted to the cylindrical surfaces 24 and 26. Thus when the frame 28 is placed above the pit I2 with the grooves 34 fitted to the surfaces 24 and 26 of thebearing blocks 28 and 5 22, it will be seen that the frame 28 is free to rock about a transverse axis through the center of the hemicylindrical groovesz34.

The left hand side memberjpf the frame 28,

looking at the machine fromjthe end shown in Fig. 3, carries near its center a horizontal platform 36 positioned above the bearing block 38.

Secured to this platform 36 is an electric motor 38 geared through any suitable speed reduction means 48 to a horizontal shaft 42. The shaft 42 extends parallel to the side member of the frame 28 and is journaled in a. plurality of aligned bearing boxes, in this instance six, four of which 44,

46, 48 and 58, are in view, the other two being hidden by the motor 38.

Near one end of the frame 26 between'the bearing boxes 44 and 46, a gear 52 is keyed'or otherwise rigidly secured to the shaft 42. This gear 52 is flankedon its sides by rollers 54 and 56 which are secured to the shaft 42 and have a diameter equal to the pitch diameter of the gear 52. The other end of the, shaft 42 is similarly provided with a gear 62, and rollers 64 and 66, while the center carries one wide roller (not shown).

[The other side member ,of the'frarne 28 also carries a shaft provided with rollers similar to the one above described, excepting that it carries no gears and idles instead of being driven by the motor 38. I

85 The above described rollers serve as the support for a rotatable drum 68,which is provided with circumferential tracks I8, I2 and 'I4,'to register with the three sets of rollers. The two end tracks l81andl4 are provided centrally with ring gears I6 and 78 having a pitch diameter equal to the diameter of the tracks 'I8and 14, which mesh with the gears' 52 and 62 respectively. Therefore, when the motor 38 revolves the shaft 42, the gears 52 and62' will drive the cylinder 68 through ringgears I6 and'IB, while the weight of the cylinder 68 will be carried on the above described rollers.

, The drum 68 is made of boiler plate or other suitable material'and may be lined with rubber or fabric belting 88, since these materials resist abrasion much betterthan'do metals.

The ends of the frame28 have secured thereto upright rails 82 and 84 at one end and 86 and88 at the other, which carry disc-shaped closures 98 and. 92. for the ends of the cylinder 68. A U- shaped annular ring 94 and 96 is secured to the inner periphery of the discs 98 and 92, respectively, and forms a labyrinth with flanges 98 and I88 .secured to the. ends of the cylinder68, thereby 70 of the U-shaped annular rings 94 and 96 are cut away at the bottom where the rings rest upon the frame 28 to provide an opening I84 for the flow of water, sand, and mud from the ends of the cylin- I der 68 through into the pit I2. I

I u The means for adjusting the degree oftilt of preferably interchangeable and similar.

the'cylinder consists of a screw shaft I86 swivelably anchored to the bottom of the pit I2 by the bracket I88. The upward end of the screw I86 extends through a round nut II8 rotatably held between two arms of a yoke'I I2 that is secured to the upright frame rail 62. The round nut II 8 is provided with a plurality of radially spaced vertical slots H4 that may be engaged by a pawl II6 slidably secured at I I! to a horizontally swingable lever I I8. The lever H8 is provided near its free 10 end with a handle I28 and grip I22 to be grasped in one of the operators hands. The grip I22 is pivotally mounted on the lever H8 at I24 and urged outwardly by a spring I26. This grip I22 is connected through suitable bell crank mechanism 15 to the pawl IIB, so that when the grip I22 is squeezed against the handle I28, the pawl will be retracted from the nut H8, and when the grip I22 is released the spring I26 will urge the pawl I I6 into one of the slots 4 of the nut II8. It will 28 thus be seenthat when the lever H8 is oscillated backward and forward with the-grip I22 released at the end of the forward stroke and compressed at the end of'the backward stroke, the nut H8 will berevolved from left to right, thereby raising 25 nut I I8, yoke I I2, and the frame rail 82, providing the screw I86 is of the usual right hand thread type. Likewise, if the same oscillations are car-' ried out, but the grip released at 'the end of the backward stroke and compressed at the end of the 30 forward stroke, the attached end of the cylinder 68 will be lowered. 4

,In order to produce a better spreadin'g of the castings being tumbled in the lower portion of the cylinder 68, aplurality of spaced cleats I28 are se- 5 cured to'the inner surface and extend substan-, tially the length of the cylinder.

The cylinder end closure shown in Figs. l and 3 is provided near its top with a hopper I38 and openingI32 through which the castings to be 0 cleaned may be placed into the cylinder 68. Below the hopper I 38 another opening I34is provided through which high pressure abrasive carrying liquid streams maybe projected against the the hopper I38as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. v

' Inside the cylinder68 two more guns I48'and I42 are mounted on a beam I44 that extends iongitudinallyof the cylinder and is secured at its 50 ends to the end walls 98 and 92. I a

All four of theseguns I36, I38, I48, and I42 are Substantially all of the operating features of a hand held gun have been retained, including an ad- 8 'justing screw I45 for varying the character of the discharged stream, but the housing projecting from the rear of the gun ends in a ball I46 through which projects a stem I48 of a water inlet valve within the gun housing. A'knob I58 se- 60 cured to the end of the stem I48serves as a means to revolve the stem I48 and 'adjust' the water valve.

The ball I46 is held in a socket joint I52, best shown in Figs. 7 and 8, whicheonsists of a base portion I54 secured to either the hopper I38 or beam' I44, as the case may be; Thetop surface of this base portion I54 has 'a spherical depression to take the ball I46 and a transverse cylindrical depression crossing the spherical depression to allow passage of the shankof the gun body and the stem I48. '1

The cap I56 of the socket joint I52 has an interior or lower surface similar to the upper surface of the base I54 and issecured to the base adjusted to play upon the castings within the cylinder 66 in the most eflicient manner.

The discharge end of the cylinder 68 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has its closure provided with an opening I62 through which the cleaned castpit I2. Each side of this chute I64 is provided with upstanding panels I66 which prevent the castings from falling from the sides of the chute.

A sliding door I68, shown in its raised position in Fig. 2, may be lowered to cover the opening I62 when it is desired to confine the castings within the cylinder for an extended period rather than having them move through the cylinder continuously.

Each of the guns I36, I38, I40 and I42 is connected by a hose length I10 to a manifold I12 supplied with water under approximately '700 pounds to the square inch pressure from a motor driven compressor, not shown, through the pipe I14. Each gun is also connected to a hose length I16 which leads to separate sand feeders I18 which have their inlets I80 submerged in the sand contained in the tank I8.

These sand feeders I18 as well as the guns and sand classifier I6 are all fully described in application Serial No. 127,620, now Patent No.

2,200,587, dated May. 18, 1940, and reference is made to that patent for a fuller explanation of the constructional features of these units. It should be noted in this connection, however, that I prefer to use a separate sand feeder I18 for each gun, since the characteristics of these feeders vary greatly depending on the amount of sand fiowing through them, and although one feeder could be built to supply all four guns, it would not operate efficiently if one or more of the guns were shut off. Consequently it increases the flexibility of the machine to meet varying circumstanoes to provide it with guns, any one of which may be turned off at will withoutdisturbing the operation of the others.

In operation, the machine is installed and connected as above described. With the motor 38 charged stream regulated by the adjusting screw cylinder 68 through the opening I32 and the streams from the four guns are directed to obtain the most eflicient cleaning action and to urge the castings toward the discharge opening I62. If it is seen that the castings move too rapidly through the machine, the nut H0 is revolved by the handle I20 to lower the rear end of the cylinder 68, while if the castings stay in the cylinder longer than necessary, the rear end of the cylinder is raised.

It will be seen that by the tilting of the cylinder and the adjustability of the guns, great flexibility of operation is possible, thereby allowing castings of varying character to be cleaned in this machine. After the machine is adjusted as above described, castings may be continuously fed into the hopper I30 and they will be cleaned and discharged from the opening I62 automatically.

The discharged water and sand, plus the dirt abraded from the surface of the castings runs into the pit I2 and through the openings I4 into the sand classifier I6. This classifier, as described in application Serial No. 127,620, now Patent No. 2,200,587, dated May 14, 1940, allows the proper grade of sand to fall through into the tank I8 while rejecting the large particles and sludge. The sand in the tank I8 is then drawn into the feeders I18 through the holes I 80 and recirculated to the guns.

While I have described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of my device, it is to be understood that variations may be made therefrom without departing from the scope of this invention, and that the limitations on this invention are to be found in the appended claim.

I claim:

The castings to be cleaned are placed in the 3 In casting cleaning apparatus, the combination comprising a rotatably mounted cylinder in which castings are cleaned, means for rotating the cylinder, end covers forthe cylinder, one of which has a discharging opening therein and the other of which has a charging opening and a second opening therein, support means for the cylinder including a fulcrum and cooperating adjustable means for controlling the axial slope of the cylinder, a pair of guns, means providing a supply of fluid under pressure and abrasive material to the guns to be discharged thereby as jets, one of the guns being outside of the cylinder adjacent the charging opening and extending toward the said second opening, the other of the guns being within the cylinder, and means for supporting the guns including adjustable ball and socket joints for determining the angular positions of the guns, the angular positions of the guns being such that the jets urge the castings from the charging opening'and to the discharging opening, and the angular position of the guns and axial slope of the cylinder being so adjusted and related that the castings are cleaned by the jets in moving from the charging opening to the discharging opening.

TOWNER K. WEBSTER, JR. 

